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Government drops sex education for children aged five

Schools secretary Ed Balls has scrapped plans to make sex education compulsory for children five years and over.

Parenting and religious campaigners had strongly opposed the plans to introduce sex education for children from five years in Personal, Social and Health education classes (PSHE).

The sex education classes featuring sex education were due to be introduced in Primary schools from next September, with five to seven year olds learning about physical changes to their bodies and seven to eleven year olds taught about different relationships, including civil partnerships.

The u-turn has been welcomed by campaigners, with Margaret Morrissey from parenting support group Parent Outloud commenting, “The majority of parents prefer to speak to their children about sex and relationships in their own time, in their own way and in their own language.”